Stealing Hydrant Parts

We had this article on standby for late last week, but events kind of drove it off the radar:

• DETROIT (WXYZ) — Thieves have destroyed nearly 75 fire hydrants on the west side of Detroit in the last 48 hours, stealing parts and putting lives at risk.

  Crews with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department are racing to repair the broken hydrants along Southfield Road and across the west side after thieves tore through dozens in about two days.

  "We think the number is about 75 so far," DWSD Deputy Director Sam Smalley said.

  The thieves are targeting metal nozzles and stems on top of the hydrants, which are worth about $600.

Just when people are saying Detroit has turned a corner, you get something like this, endangering the entire community for a few bucks worth of metal (that $600 price tag is the retail price for the machined part and labor to install - scrap brass goes for under $3 per pound). But it's Detroit, where they used to burn down a couple hundred abandoned buildings pre-Halloween every year....until they ran out of buildings.

Chicago might end up there yet.